


reunions

by skuls



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Hugs, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, canon spec but also i dont expect things to happen this way, jon and martin emotionally reunite and hug for 10 minutes: the fic, mag 196
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-16 23:14:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29708022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skuls/pseuds/skuls
Summary: Martin and Jon find each other again at the remnants of Hill Top Road.(**spoilers for mag 196!**)
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Comments: 2
Kudos: 81





	reunions

**Author's Note:**

> spoilers for mag 196!!
> 
> this is entirely self indulgent and not at all meant to speculate canon. playing into my trend of writing the season 5 scenarios i want to see in the world (see "variations" and "cat's cradle"), i wanted to write a fic that's entirely just martin and jon reuniting and hugging, just in case this never happens in canon. (i'm semi glad i leaned into this impulse and not the one where i write a scenario where jon and martin never see each other at all after 194 lol.) this assumes things go relatively all right after jon and basira arrive at htr and everyone gets a chance to talk things out. 
> 
> in the meantime: yes i am still playing into my type of writing tma fics with emotional reunions. i can't help it. it's a habit now and these characters deserve a cathartic ten minute reunion hug sometimes!!
> 
> insane how the finale is only in 4 episodes, huh?? hit me up on tumblr @ghostbustermelanieking where i continue to be entirely too invested in this show.

The moment that Annabelle's explanation ends, when she steps away from the spot where Martin is held down, Jon lurches forward to free him. The web stretched over the abyss wobbles precariously at his sharp movements, and the way Martin's eyes widen with panic makes Jon's chest ache. "Careful," says Annabelle, voice thick with amusement, "or you'll bring the whole thing down."

" _ Martin, _ " says Jon, clutching at Martin's hand from where it sticks out of the strands of web. Martin clutches back, his grip desperate around Jon's hand. 

The sick feeling that had emerged in Jon's stomach when he and Basira arrived to see Martin stuck in a precarious web (that almost resembles the ribbons of a tape recorder) hasn't subsided yet; it sharpens, actually, seeing how far the fall is. He hasn't taken his eyes off Martin since he got here, hasn't been able to stop staring at the web and the strands around Martin and the whole of it, his relief at Martin being alive coupled with his panic over where he is. His voice is still raw from where he'd shouted at Annabelle to let Martin go. 

Jon grips Martin's hand tighter, and fumbles at the places where the web is holding Martin down. He wants to believe Annabelle when she says that she won't hurt them, that her plan will actually help them, but it's hard, considering all of it—especially with Martin suspended thousands of feet above a chasm to nowhere. "Martin," he says, voice strangled, "hold  _ on,  _ just… it'll be all right, j-just..." 

" _ Jon, _ " Martin chokes out, his fingernails digging into Jon's wrist.

Jon finds a knife, somewhere in his pocket, and snaps through the strands around Martin, hands shaking with the effort of trying not to cut through the web that's actually  _ keeping _ them from falling. The whole thing is shaking, suddenly, as Martin is freed—either because Jon has cut too deeply or from the exertion of their movements—and Jon's hands close in a frantic motion around Martin's wrists, as if he  _ can _ actually pull Martin back when they're both balanced on the same precarious ledge. 

For a moment, it feels like it's just the two of them, clutching at each other's wrists, staring desperately at each other as they tremble on the edge of a cliff, and Jon can only think, panicked, that if Martin goes down he is going with him. But then he feels a hand close around the back of his jacket and yank backwards—Basira, from her spot on the edge of solid ground, hauling them towards solid ground. They both scramble back with the motion, Martin's feet scrabbling uselessly against the strands of web, Jon yanking upwards so hard that his muscles ache with the strain of Martin's weight. But something gives way, and they manage to land on solid ground just as the strands of web keeping them up snap free. 

" _ Christ, _ the two of you," Basira snaps, wearily, her hand landing reassuringly on Jon's shoulder for a moment. "Can't stage a rescue mission without both of you almost collapsing into some… s-some other  _ dimension. _ "

"I wouldn't have expected anything less," Annabelle says pleasantly, still sounding like she might be laughing at them. 

Jon rolls onto his side, panting, and wrenches himself into a sitting position. His eyes yank immediately to Martin, picking himself up, pulling strands of web away from his wrists and ankles ringed in red from the restraints. Martin's head swivels towards Jon; his own eyes are wide, nearly brimming with tears. 

Jon isn't sure which of them moves first. Maybe it is both of them at the same time. All he knows is that a moment later they are colliding together, on their knees, embracing. Martin's arms are so tight around him that Jon's ribs ache, but he doesn't care. Jon's clutching at the back of Martin's jacket, his face pressed into Martin's neck—Martin's pulse, Martin's heart beating because he is  _ alive _ —and he's mumbling frantic apologies:  _ I'm sorry, Martin, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.  _ It takes a few moments to register Martin's voice, warm and cramped and frantic in Jon's ear, murmuring apologies of his own. 

"We'll give these two a moment," says Annabelle to Basira. 

Jon barely registers this, either, or the sound of their retreating footsteps. All that matters is that Martin is  _ here,  _ here and whole and warm in his arms. Jon shuts his eyes, feels the warm slide of tears down his cheeks. Tugs Martin a little closer, somehow, holding onto him tighter. A part of him had really thought he might never see Martin again. 

He says this—voice breaking, fumbling upwards to press a hand against Martin's cheek, he says, "I-I… thought I might never see you again. Martin, I was so  _ scared. _ " 

Martin makes a choking sound. He leans into Jon's hand, covers it with his own shaking one. "Jon… Jon, I'm  _ so  _ sorry. I… I didn't mean it, I… I was afraid I'd lose you, a-and I overreacted, but I… I didn't… and then I  _ left,  _ and I-I-I didn't mean to…"

"Martin, n-no, Martin, I…" Jon jerks back a little, looks up at Martin. Wipes a tear from Martin's cheek with his thumb. "Martin,  _ I'm  _ sorry. I… You were right. I w-wanted to tell you that, you… I shouldn't have… I-I came too late, I  _ never  _ should've left, but I wanted to tell you…" 

"No, Jon, you don't understand, I…" Martin shakes his head. Links his fingers with Jon's, squeezes his hand and kisses the palm gently. "I left on  _ purpose.  _ W-well, not really, Annabelle, she… bl-blackmailed me, or something, she said she'd leave if I tried to find you, she… but I left  _ willingly.  _ I-I tried to hang behind, sl-slow us down so you'd be able to catch up but I, we, we were too fast and I… I'm so sorry _ , _ Jon. I wasn't thinking. I didn't know what else to do, b-but I never should have…" 

"Martin, don't… it doesn't matter, all right? I-it  _ doesn't matter,  _ it… you're  _ here, _ you're all right." Jon wraps his arms hard around Martin again, turns his head to kiss Martin's cheek. He'd thought he might never see Martin again, he really had, but here he is. Here he is,  _ alive, _ and the rest of it doesn't seem to matter somehow. Martin's here now. 

Martin seems to soften in Jon's grasp; he kisses Jon's fingers again before hugging him back just as tightly. "She… she said she had a way out," he says softly. "Annabelle. One where we don't… die, o-or take Jonah's place, or… T-that was why I went. I… If there's  _ any _ other way, I…"

"I know," Jon says quietly. 

Martin's fingers tangle gently in Jon's hair. "Do you… can you…  _ See?  _ Is she telling the truth?"

"No. No, it's too muddled, the Web is clouding my vision. But…" Jon shudders a little, presses his face hard against Martin's shoulder. "I-it's not good, I don't think. Not entirely. I… I-I don't know what… maybe we'll both make it through, maybe… b-but I don't think it'll be something we…  _ want  _ to do." 

Martin sighs, his eyes sliding shut. "Of… of course it isn't. Of  _ course  _ it isn't."

Jon sighs, too, pulls back a little to look Martin in the eye again. "But… if there's any chance…"

Martin nods. "I… I meant it, Jon, when I said I wouldn't doom the world for you. Or I… I wanted to, I thought I did, but I… I didn't think…" He swallows hard, sniffles a little and seems to compose himself a little. "B-but, yeah, if there's  _ any _ chance of… of you, o-of  _ both  _ of us…" 

"Y-yes, yes," says Jon. "Anything. Any chance at all. W-we'll hear her out, we… m-maybe it really can fix things." 

Martin laughs a little, softly, and Jon can't help but laugh, too, the stunned, awed sort of laugh. They're here, they're both here, and  _ maybe  _ they have a chance. They press their foreheads together, breathing in time; Jon squeezes Martin's hand again. "I love you," he whispers. "A—and I  _ won't _ leave you again. I promise." 

Martin squeezes back before letting go. "Wh-whatever happens?"

"I promise," Jon repeats. "Whatever happens, w-we'll be together." For a moment—here, back with Martin again—he allows himself to hope that things might end all right for them. Maybe. 

Martin pushes hair away from Jon's face, brushes his fingertips over Jon's jaw. Smiles just a little, wobbly, and Jon smiles back. "I… I can live with that. I—I love you, too. I love you, and I promise I won't leave you, either. Not again."

"Guys." Jon turns to see Basira, standing a few feet away, the expression on her face somewhere similar to what it was in the Wonderland Hospital, after the Hunt domain, when they'd taken a moment. She shrugs at them, a bit sharply. "Annabelle says it's time."

Jon sighs again; a large part of him is unwilling to step away from this, this brief peace they've created at the edge of a chasm at the end of the world. "All right. We're… we're coming," he calls. He slides his hand down to take Martin's again and holds on tight, like the webs are going to snap up and pull Martin away again. He isn't sure how much time they have left, but he knows he doesn't want to lose track of Martin again in the process of it. Not that, never again. He won't let it take him away again. 

Martin leans into him, just a little, before they get to their feet. "Together?" he whispers into Jon's hair. 

Jon nods, presses a kiss to the soft crest of Martin's shoulder. "Together," he says. 

They get to their feet, still clasping hands, and follow Basira across the sharp landscape of the cavern at Hill Top Road, to where Annabelle Cane is waiting. 


End file.
